Shelving supports are well known in the art and take many different forms. Most such supports comprise load bearing members which are fixed to walls or the like and on which the shelves rest. Other such supports include means for attaching the load bearing members directly to the shelves for retaining the shelves in a fixed location. The latter type supports may include separable fasteners, one of which is attached to the wall while the other is attached to the shelf. In such a case, the separable fasteners together become load bearing members, the strength and convenience of which is determined by the method used for attaching the fasteners to their respective elements, and the design and ease with which the fasteners may be engaged or disengaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,305 shows a typical shelf support which includes a mounting strip attached to a wall or the like and a load bearing member which is positioned in the mounting strip for directly supporting a shelf. U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,535 illustrates another type of shelf connector wherein a first pin-type element is attached to a wall and a second, substantially inverted cup shaped element is associated with the shelf for connecting the shelf and wall together. In the latter patent the two elements slide together and apart with a pivoting action as desired for assembling and disassembling the shelves from their supports. U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,453 shows yet another separable fastener structure which may be used on shelving wherein the two fastener elements snap together and pull apart as desired in a typical back and forth operation. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,863,575 shows a typical display stand with integral shelves and one method for retaining the shelves in position.
In each of the cases described hereinbefore, the shelving connections have poor load bearing strength and reliability because of the manner in which they are affixed to their respective shelving components, and because of the manner in which they become engaged with one another. When such shelving connectors are applied to point-of-purchase display stands or the like, one of the tests used to determine the serviceability of the connectors is their resistance to separation when a loaded display stand is pulled or pushed from the side. Another consideration for such connectors is the ease with which the elements are engaged when the display stand is assembled. Obviously, when the display stand has a great width, and is to be assembled by one person, it is desireable to provide connections which may be made first at one side of the shelf and then at the other, rather than at both ends simultaneously. Thus, in order to satisfy the requirements of serviceability and ease of assembly, the shelf connector components of the present invention were designed to be conveniently snapped together for assembly and slid apart for disassembly.